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Galassi FM, Lorkiewicz W, Filipiak J, Nikodem A, Żądzińska E. Age- and sex-related changes in vertebral trabecular bone architecture in Neolithic and Mediaeval populations from Poland. Sci Rep 2024; 14:9977. [PMID: 38693297 PMCID: PMC11063184 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59946-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024] Open
Abstract
This paper investigates trabecular bone ontogenetic changes in two different Polish populations, one prehistoric and the other historical. The studied populations are from the Brześć Kujawski region in Kujawy (north-central Poland), one from the Neolithic Period (4500-4000 BC) and one from the Middle Ages (twelfth-sixteenth centuries AD), in total 62 vertebral specimens (32 males, 30 females). Eight morphometric parameters acquired from microCT scan images were analysed. Two-way ANOVA after Box-Cox transformation and multifactorial regression model were calculated. A significant decrease in percentage bone volume fraction (BV/TV; [%]) with age at death was observed in the studied sample; Tb.N (trabecular number) was also significantly decreased with age; trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) increased with advancing age; connectivity density (Conn.D) was negatively correlated with biological age and higher in the Neolithic population. These data are found to be compatible with data from the current biomedical literature, while no loss of horizontal trabeculae was recorded as would be expected based on modern osteoporosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Maria Galassi
- Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
| | - Wiesław Lorkiewicz
- Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
| | - Jarosław Filipiak
- Department of Mechanics, Materials and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Anna Nikodem
- Department of Mechanics, Materials and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Elżbieta Żądzińska
- Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
- Biological Anthropology and Comparative Anatomy Research Unit, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia
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Rayfield KM, Mychajliw AM, Singleton RR, Sholts SB, Hofman CA. Uncovering the Holocene roots of contemporary disease-scapes: bringing archaeology into One Health. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230525. [PMID: 38052246 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The accelerating pace of emerging zoonotic diseases in the twenty-first century has motivated cross-disciplinary collaboration on One Health approaches, combining microbiology, veterinary and environmental sciences, and epidemiology for outbreak prevention and mitigation. Such outbreaks are often caused by spillovers attributed to human activities that encroach on wildlife habitats and ecosystems, such as land use change, industrialized food production, urbanization and animal trade. While the origin of anthropogenic effects on animal ecology and biogeography can be traced to the Late Pleistocene, the archaeological record-a long-term archive of human-animal-environmental interactions-has largely been untapped in these One Health approaches, thus limiting our understanding of these dynamics over time. In this review, we examine how humans, as niche constructors, have facilitated new host species and 'disease-scapes' from the Late Pleistocene to the Anthropocene, by viewing zooarchaeological, bioarchaeological and palaeoecological data with a One Health perspective. We also highlight how new biomolecular tools and advances in the '-omics' can be holistically coupled with archaeological and palaeoecological reconstructions in the service of studying zoonotic disease emergence and re-emergence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen M Rayfield
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology & Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019-0390, USA
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Alexis M Mychajliw
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology & Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019-0390, USA
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
- Department of Biology & Program in Environmental Studies, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753-6203, USA
| | - Robin R Singleton
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology & Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019-0390, USA
| | - Sabrina B Sholts
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Courtney A Hofman
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology & Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019-0390, USA
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
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Wei X, Cooper DML. The various meanings and uses of bone "remodeling" in biological anthropology: A review. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2023; 182:318-329. [PMID: 37515465 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2023] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/09/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES In modern bone biology, the term "remodeling" generally refers to internal bone turnover that creates secondary osteons. However, it is also widely used by skeletal biologists, including biological anthropologists as a catch-all term to refer to different skeletal changes. In this review, we investigated how "remodeling" is used across topics on skeletal biology in biological anthropology to demonstrate potential problems with such pervasive use of a generalized term. METHODS Using PubMed and Google Scholar, we selected and reviewed 205 articles that use the term remodeling to describe skeletal processes and have anthropological implications. Nine edited volumes were also reviewed as examples of collaborative work by different experts to demonstrate the diverse and extensive use of the term remodeling. RESULTS Four general meanings of bone "remodeling" were identified, namely, internal turnover, functional adaptation, fracture repair, and growth remodeling. Additionally, remodeling is also used to refer to a broad array of pathological skeletal changes. DISCUSSION Although we initially identified four general meanings of bone remodeling, they are not mutually exclusive and often occur in combination. The term "remodeling" has become an extensively used catch-all term to refer to different processes and outcomes of skeletal changes, which inevitably lead to misunderstanding and a loss of information. Such ambiguity and confusion are potentially problematic as the field of biological anthropology becomes increasingly multidisciplinary. Therefore, we advocate for precise, context-specific definitions and explanations of bone remodeling as it continues to be used across disciplines within and beyond biological anthropology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuan Wei
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
| | - David M L Cooper
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
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Zuckerman MK, Malis SW, Dillon DD, Widrick KJ, Adams EJ, Hill ME, McKenna MK, Baumgartel OC, Willis HD. Sex, gender, and sexuality in paleopathology: Select current developments and pathways forward. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2023; 41:8-21. [PMID: 36889217 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Overall, paleopathology trails behind related fields in exploring sex, gender, and sexuality in past societies. Here, we interrogatively synthesize scholarship on topics not included in similar reviews, focusing on sex estimation methods, and considering the social determinants of health; trauma; reproduction and family; and childhood - to highlight novel, social epidemiology- and social theory-informed frameworks and interpretive devices. CONCLUSIONS Many paleopathological interpretations focus on sex-gender differences relative to health, with increasing use of intersectionality. Others consistently project present-day ideologies about sex, gender, and sexuality (e.g., binary sex-gender systems) into paleopathological interpretations (i.e., presentism). SIGNIFICANCE Paleopathologists have an ethical imperative to generate scholarship that contributes to social justice initiatives focused on dismantling structural inequalities, especially relative to sex, gender, and sexuality (e.g., homophobia), such as through denaturalizing presentist binary systems. They also have a responsibility towards greater inclusivity relative to researcher identity and diversification of method and theory. LIMITATIONS In addition to material limitations complicating reconstructions of sex, gender, and sexuality relative to health and disease in the past, this review wasn't comprehensive. The review was also limited by the relative paucity of paleopathological work on these topics. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH The outlook for paleopathological research on sex, gender, and sexuality is, however, positive; paleopathology is well situated to tackle these aspects of social identity. Future work should consider critical, self-reflective movement away from presentism; more robust contextualization; and further engagement with social theory and social epidemiology theory and approaches, including the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD), social determinants of health, and intersectionality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly K Zuckerman
- Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University, 340 Lee Blvd, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
| | - Sierra W Malis
- Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University, 340 Lee Blvd, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA; National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20560, USA.
| | - Daniel D Dillon
- Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University, 340 Lee Blvd, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
| | - Kerri J Widrick
- Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University, 340 Lee Blvd, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
| | - Elise J Adams
- Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University, 340 Lee Blvd, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
| | - Mary E Hill
- Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University, 340 Lee Blvd, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
| | - M Kathryn McKenna
- Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University, 340 Lee Blvd, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
| | - Olivia C Baumgartel
- Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University, 340 Lee Blvd, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
| | - Hannah D Willis
- Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University, 340 Lee Blvd, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
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Buikstra JE, DeWitte SN, Agarwal SC, Baker BJ, Bartelink EJ, Berger E, Blevins KE, Bolhofner K, Boutin AT, Brickley MB, Buzon MR, de la Cova C, Goldstein L, Gowland R, Grauer AL, Gregoricka LA, Halcrow SE, Hall SA, Hillson S, Kakaliouras AM, Klaus HD, Knudson KJ, Knüsel CJ, Larsen CS, Martin DL, Milner GR, Novak M, Nystrom KC, Pacheco-Forés SI, Prowse TL, Robbins Schug G, Roberts CA, Rothwell JE, Santos AL, Stojanowski C, Stone AC, Stull KE, Temple DH, Torres CM, Toyne JM, Tung TA, Ullinger J, Wiltschke-Schrotta K, Zakrzewski SR. Twenty-first century bioarchaeology: Taking stock and moving forward. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2022; 178 Suppl 74:54-114. [PMID: 36790761 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Revised: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
This article presents outcomes from a Workshop entitled "Bioarchaeology: Taking Stock and Moving Forward," which was held at Arizona State University (ASU) on March 6-8, 2020. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the School of Human Evolution and Social Change (ASU), and the Center for Bioarchaeological Research (CBR, ASU), the Workshop's overall goal was to explore reasons why research proposals submitted by bioarchaeologists, both graduate students and established scholars, fared disproportionately poorly within recent NSF Anthropology Program competitions and to offer advice for increasing success. Therefore, this Workshop comprised 43 international scholars and four advanced graduate students with a history of successful grant acquisition, primarily from the United States. Ultimately, we focused on two related aims: (1) best practices for improving research designs and training and (2) evaluating topics of contemporary significance that reverberate through history and beyond as promising trajectories for bioarchaeological research. Among the former were contextual grounding, research question/hypothesis generation, statistical procedures appropriate for small samples and mixed qualitative/quantitative data, the salience of Bayesian methods, and training program content. Topical foci included ethics, social inequality, identity (including intersectionality), climate change, migration, violence, epidemic disease, adaptability/plasticity, the osteological paradox, and the developmental origins of health and disease. Given the profound changes required globally to address decolonization in the 21st century, this concern also entered many formal and informal discussions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jane E Buikstra
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Sharon N DeWitte
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
| | - Sabrina C Agarwal
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Brenda J Baker
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Eric J Bartelink
- Department of Anthropology, California State University, Chico, California, USA
| | - Elizabeth Berger
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | | | - Katelyn Bolhofner
- School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
| | - Alexis T Boutin
- Department of Anthropology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California, USA
| | - Megan B Brickley
- Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Michele R Buzon
- Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
| | - Carlina de la Cova
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
| | - Lynne Goldstein
- Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | | | - Anne L Grauer
- Department of Anthropology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Lesley A Gregoricka
- Department of Sociology, Anthropology, & Social Work, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, USA
| | - Siân E Halcrow
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Sarah A Hall
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Simon Hillson
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Ann M Kakaliouras
- Department of Anthropology, Whittier College, Whittier, California, USA
| | - Haagen D Klaus
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
| | - Kelly J Knudson
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Christopher J Knüsel
- Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, MC, PACEA, UMR5199, F-33615, Pessac, France
| | | | - Debra L Martin
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
| | - George R Milner
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Mario Novak
- Center for Applied Bioanthropology, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Kenneth C Nystrom
- Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, New York, USA
| | | | - Tracy L Prowse
- Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Gwen Robbins Schug
- Environmental Health Program, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
| | | | - Jessica E Rothwell
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Ana Luisa Santos
- Research Centre for Anthropology and Health (CIAS), Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Christopher Stojanowski
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Anne C Stone
- Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Kyra E Stull
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - Daniel H Temple
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
| | - Christina M Torres
- Department of Anthropology and Heritage Studies, University of California, Merced, USA, and Instituto de Arqueología y Antropología, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile
| | - J Marla Toyne
- Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA
| | - Tiffiny A Tung
- Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Jaime Ullinger
- Bioanthropology Research Institute, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut, USA
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Beatrice JS, Soler A, Reineke RC, Martínez DE. Skeletal evidence of structural violence among undocumented migrants from Mexico and Central America. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 176:584-605. [PMID: 34409584 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES We examine the prevalence and sociodemographic risk factors of skeletal indicators of stress in forensic samples of undocumented migrants from Mexico and Central America. MATERIALS AND METHODS Cranial and dental remains of 319 migrants recovered in the Arizona and Texas borderlands were assessed for porotic hyperostosis (PH), cribra orbitalia (CO), and linear enamel hypoplasias (LEH). Logistic regression models for each condition were estimated to test for associations with biological sex, age, recovery location, and whether individuals were identified. Additional models estimated for a subsample of identified migrants included region of origin, residential context, and community indigeneity. RESULTS The full sample shows moderate crude prevalence of CO (9.6%) and LEH (34.1%), and a high prevalence of PH (49.6%). Significantly higher odds of PH are associated with being male (2.16 times higher), unidentified (1.89 times higher), and recovered in Arizona (3.76 times higher). Among identified migrants, we fail to find associations significant at the p < 0.05 level between skeletal stress and all sociodemographic variables except age. DISCUSSION The factors associated with PH may be related to influences on decisions to migrate and diversity among migrant sending regions. The skeletal evidence for early life stress is generally consistent with common public health concerns among impoverished communities in the region. The lesions themselves are viewed as embodied risk of physiological disturbance when resource access is structured by higher-level social, economic, and political forces. Forensic anthropologists would benefit from increased sensitivity to embodied structural violence among the vulnerable individuals and communities they serve.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared S Beatrice
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, New Jersey, USA
| | - Angela Soler
- Forensic Anthropology Unit, Office of Chief Medical Examiner of New York City, New York, New York, USA
| | - Robin C Reineke
- The Southwest Center, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Daniel E Martínez
- School of Sociology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
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Agarwal SC. What is normal bone health? A bioarchaeological perspective on meaningful measures and interpretations of bone strength, loss, and aging. Am J Hum Biol 2021; 33:e23647. [PMID: 34272787 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2020] [Revised: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Bioarchaeological (the study of archeological human remains together with contextual and documentary evidence) offers a unique vantage point to examine variation in skeletal morphology related to influences such as activity, disease, and nutrition. The human skeleton is composed of a dynamic tissue that is forged by biocultural factors over the entire life course, providing a record of individual, and community history. Various aspects of adult bone health, particularly bone maintenance and loss and the associated skeletal disease osteoporosis, have been examined in numerous past populations. The anthropological study of bone loss has traditionally focused on the signature of postmenopausal aging, costs of reproduction, and fragility in females. The a priori expectation of normative sex-related bone loss/fragility in bioanthropological studies illustrates the wider gender-ideological bias that continues in research design and data analysis in the field. Contextualized data on bone maintenance and aging in the archeological record show that patterns of bone loss do not constitute predictable consequences of aging or biological sex. Instead, the critical examination of bioarchaeological data highlights the complex and changing processes that craft the human body over the life course, and calls for us to question the ideal or "normal" range of bone quantity and quality in the human skeleton, and to critically reflect on what measures are actually biologically and/or socially meaningful.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina C Agarwal
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
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van Spelde AM, Schroeder H, Kjellström A, Lidén K. Approaches to osteoporosis in paleopathology: How did methodology shape bone loss research? INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2021; 33:245-257. [PMID: 34044198 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2021.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/03/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This paper will review how different methods employed to study bone loss in the past were used to explore different questions and aspects of bone loss, how methodology has changed over time, and how these different approaches have informed our understanding of bone loss in the past. MATERIALS AND METHODS A review and discussion is conducted on research protocols and results of 84 paleopathology publications on bone loss in archaeological skeletal collections published between 1969 and 2021. CONCLUSIONS The variety in research protocols confounds accurate meta-analysis of previously published research; however, more recent publications incorporate a combination of bone mass and bone quality based methods. Biased sample selection has resulted in a predominance of European and Medieval publications, limiting more general observations on bone loss in the past. Collection of dietary or paleopathological covariables is underemployed in the effort to interpret bone loss patterns. SIGNIFICANCE Paleopathology publications have demonstrated differences in bone loss between distinct archaeological populations, between sex and age groups, and have suggested factors underlying observed differences. However, a lack of a gold standard has encouraged the use of a wide range of methods. Understanding how this array of methods effects results is crucial in contextualizing our knowledge of bone loss in the past. LIMITATIONS The development of a research protocol is also influenced by available expertise, available equipment, restrictions imposed by the curator, and site-specific taphonomic aspects. These factors will likely continue to cause (minor) biases even if a best practice can be established. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Greater effort to develop uniform terminology and operational definitions of osteoporosis in skeletal remains, as well as the expansion of time scale and geographical areas studied. The Next-Generation Sequencing revolution has also opened up the possibility of ancient DNA analyses to study genetic predisposition to bone loss in the past.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne-Marijn van Spelde
- Archaeological Research Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Lilla Frescativägen 7, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden; The Globe Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Hannes Schroeder
- The Globe Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Anna Kjellström
- Osteological Research Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Lilla Frescativägen 7, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Kerstin Lidén
- Archaeological Research Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Lilla Frescativägen 7, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
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Simon AM, Hubbe M. The accuracy of age estimation using transition analysis in the Hamann-Todd collection. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 175:680-688. [PMID: 33655516 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2020] [Revised: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 02/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Reconstructing demography of past populations using skeletal data is challenging when analyzing adults because the process of biological aging does not always reflect the individual's chronological age. A proposed solution to address the limitations of traditional age estimation methods is transition analysis (TA), a multifactorial method of age estimation. However, despite its methodological refinement, TA has varying degrees of accuracy when applied to different known-age skeletal samples. This study assesses TA's accuracy by comparing age estimates to known age at death in the Hamann-Todd Collection. MATERIALS AND METHODS We contrasted the maximum likelihood age estimates generated by the ADBOU program to the known ages of 221 individuals. The absolute error was calculated for the entire sample, and compared between sex and ancestry. RESULTS The mean absolute error in the sample is 11.6 (SD = 10.3) years, with white individuals' errors (14.1 years) being significantly higher than black individuals' (9.1 years; p < 0.001). No significant differences were found between sexes (p = 0.621). A weak to moderate positive correlation was found between known age and absolute error for white males (R = 0.607; p < 0.001), white females (R = 0.509; p < 0.001), and black males (R = 0.371; p = 0.006). The accuracy of TA age estimates varied when each anatomical region was analyzed independently, but the combination of all three anatomical regions yielded the most accurate age estimates. DISCUSSION These findings further support that TA accuracy depends on the prior distribution used and, in the Hamann-Todd Collection, the accuracy for white individuals is more influenced by this limitation than when black individuals are analyzed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allyson M Simon
- Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Mark Hubbe
- Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.,Instituto de Arqueología y Antropología, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile
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Betsinger TK, DeWitte SN. Toward a bioarchaeology of urbanization: Demography, health, and behavior in cities in the past. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 175 Suppl 72:79-118. [PMID: 33619721 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2020] [Revised: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 01/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Urbanization is one of the most important settlement shifts in human history and has been the focus of research within bioarchaeology for decades. However, there have been limited attempts to synthesize the results of these studies in order to gain a broader perspective on whether or how urbanization affects the biology, demography, and behavior of humans, and how these potential effects are embodied in the human skeleton. This paper outlines how bioarchaeology is well-suited to examine urbanization in the past, and we provide an overview and examples of three main ways in which urbanization is studied in bioarchaeological research: comparison of (often contemporaneous) urban and rural sites, synchronic studies of the variation that exists within and between urban sites, and investigations of changes that occur within urban sites over time. Studies of urbanization, both within bioarchaeology and in other fields of study, face a number of limitations, including a lack of a consensus regarding what urban and urbanization mean, the assumed dichotomous nature of urban versus rural settlements, the supposition that urbanization is universally bad for people, and the assumption (at least in practice) of homogeneity within urban and rural populations. Bioarchaeologists can address these limitations by utilizing a wide array of data and methods, and the studies described here collectively demonstrate the complex, nuanced, and highly variable effects of urbanization.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sharon N DeWitte
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
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Scaffidi BK, Tung TA. Endemic violence in a pre-Hispanic Andean community: A bioarchaeological study of cranial trauma from the Majes Valley, Peru. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 172:246-269. [PMID: 31943137 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2019] [Revised: 11/23/2019] [Accepted: 12/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study examines violence-related cranial trauma frequencies and wound characteristics in the pre-Hispanic cemetery of Uraca in the lower Majes Valley, Arequipa, Peru, dating to the pre- and early-Wari periods (200-750 CE). Cranial wounds are compared between status and sex-based subgroups to understand how violence shaped, and was shaped by, these aspects of identity, and to reconstruct the social contexts of violence carried out by and against Uracans. MATERIALS AND METHODS Presence, location, and characteristics (lethality, penetration, and post-traumatic sequelae) of antemortem and perimortem cranial fractures are documented for 145 crania and compared between subgroups. Cranial wounds are mapped in ArcGIS and the locational distribution of injuries is compared between male and female crania. RESULTS Middle adult males were disproportionately interred at Uraca, particularly in the elite Sector I. The Uraca mortuary population presents the highest rate of cranial trauma reported for pre-Hispanic Peru: 67% of adults present trauma, and among those, 61.1% present more than one cranial injury. Males exhibit significantly more cranial trauma than females and present a higher mean number of injuries per person. Elite males show the highest mean number of injuries per person, more antemortem injuries, and are the only ones with perimortem cranial trauma, bladed injuries, penetrating injuries, and post-traumatic sequelae. Both sexes were most frequently injured on the anterior of the cranium, while the proportion of posterior injuries was higher for females. DISCUSSION The rate, intensity, and locational patterns of cranial trauma suggests the community was engaged in raids and/or war with enemy groups, some of which may have increased physical violence between community members. Engaging in violence was likely a prerequisite for burial in the elite sector and was bound up with the generation and maintenance of social status differences linked to male social life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beth K Scaffidi
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
| | - Tiffiny A Tung
- Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
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Veselka B, van der Merwe AE, Hoogland MLP, Waters-Rist AL. Gender-related vitamin D deficiency in a Dutch 19th century farming community. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2018; 23:69-75. [PMID: 30573168 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2017.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2017] [Revised: 10/25/2017] [Accepted: 11/03/2017] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The most common cause of vitamin D deficiency is inadequate dermal exposure to sunlight. Residual rickets is nonadult vitamin D deficiency still evident in an adult individual, whereas osteomalacia occurs in adulthood. Previous research on the Beemster population, a 19th century rural community in the Netherlands, identified rickets in 30.4% of the nonadults between the ages of two and four years (n=7/23). Because the sex of these nonadults was not known it was not possible to determine if there were differences between boys and girls. To overcome this gap in our knowledge, the aim of this paper is to determine if there are gender related differences in vitamin D deficiency in the Beemster skeletal collection, based on adults with residual rickets and osteomalacia. Out of 200 adults (100 females; 100 males) no cases of osteomalacia were detected. However, there were 29 cases of residual rickets (14.5%), with 21 of those cases in females (21.0%; 21/100). A complex interplay of multiple factors is proposed to have affected vitamin D levels in nonadults, including sociocultural variables such as gender-based labour norms. This research highlights the importance of continuing to explore gender-based health differences in past populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Veselka
- Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology, Human Osteoarchaeology Laboratory, the Netherlands.
| | | | - Menno L P Hoogland
- Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology, Human Osteoarchaeology Laboratory, the Netherlands
| | - Andrea L Waters-Rist
- Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology, Human Osteoarchaeology Laboratory, the Netherlands
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Lockau L, Atkinson SA. Vitamin D's role in health and disease: How does the present inform our understanding of the past? INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2018; 23:6-14. [PMID: 30573166 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2017.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2017] [Revised: 11/20/2017] [Accepted: 11/23/2017] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
While the role of vitamin D in supporting bone homeostasis during growth and maintenance is well substantiated, emerging evidence from ecological and observational studies suggests that a deficiency of vitamin D is associated with some cancers, immune disorders, cardiovascular disease, abnormal glucose metabolism, and neurodegenerative diseases. Biological plausibility for extraskeletal functions originated with the discovery of the vitamin D receptor in many body tissues and knowledge that the conversion of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) to its active metabolite 1,25(OH)2D occurs in many cell types in addition to the kidney. The association of vitamin D status in humans as an etiological factor in developmental programming of bone, in some chronic diseases, and in all-cause mortality, in addition to skeletal morbidity, is supported by some but not all observational studies and randomized controlled trials. These clinical observations have implications for paleopathology, both in terms of specific comorbidities and the potential role of vitamin D in individuals who display no evidence for skeletal disease. This paper outlines recent clinical research on vitamin D metabolism and its novel biological roles, and explores the possible relevance to paleopathological research designs, theoretical models, and interpretations of disease experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Lockau
- Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Grauer AL. A century of paleopathology. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 165:904-914. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2017] [Revised: 11/09/2017] [Accepted: 11/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Anne L. Grauer
- Department of Anthropology; Loyola University Chicago; Chicago Illinois 60660
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DeWitte SN. Demographic anthropology. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 165:893-903. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2017] [Revised: 09/04/2017] [Accepted: 09/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Sharon N. DeWitte
- Department of Anthropology; University of South Carolina; Columbia South Carolina 29208
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Beauchesne P, Agarwal SC. A multi-method assessment of bone maintenance and loss in an Imperial Roman population: Implications for future studies of age-related bone loss in the past. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2017; 164:41-61. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2017] [Revised: 05/09/2017] [Accepted: 05/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Beauchesne
- Department of Behavioral Sciences; University of Michigan; Dearborn Michigan
| | - Sabrina C. Agarwal
- Department of Anthropology; University of California; Berkeley California
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Agarwal SC. Bone morphologies and histories: Life course approaches in bioarchaeology. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 159:S130-49. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina C. Agarwal
- Department of Anthropology; University of California Berkeley; Berkeley CA 94720-3710
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DeWitte SN. Sex differences in periodontal disease in catastrophic and attritional assemblages from medieval london. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2012; 149:405-16. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2012] [Accepted: 08/03/2012] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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